Grace King Coach Raul Hernandez knew that Jesuit was perfectly capable of finding the net, just not from the 30-yard line.

The Fighting Irish defense was downright stingy at keeping balls out of the goalie box, but for second-place Jesuit (14-3-2, 8-1) proximity wasn't a factor Thursday night as it felled Grace King 3-0 to sweep the season series.

"Their three goals were from outside the box," Hernandez said. "We weren’t expecting that. We were expecting more close range."

The first goal of the night game came from Mason Belle, who found the net from about 30 yards downfield. Belle saw an opening between a sea of green jerseys and aimed for the top right corner of the net, just above the reach of freshman keeper Wilmer Toro.

“I just looked over the shoulder and had enough time, turned, saw there was a short keeper and said let’s have a go,” Belle said.

After narrowly scraping past King in the teams’ first meeting this season, Jesuit was able to utilize its fast home turf to execute its passing scheme and hog possession of the ball. The next two goals both came from kicks, first as Devin Francis pegged a goal off of a stray corner kick, and again when Evan Kramer fired a high penalty kick into the top of the net.

The Jays took home a 17-0 shot advantage, 10 of which were on goal. In response to the six-forward offensive stance Hernandez pulled his players back into the box in an attempt to build confidence.

Tyler Hatrel led the Blue Jays with four shots on goal. Senior forward Jordan Rice had an outstanding night fielding the ball as well, recording two tackles.

“They definitely packed the box, when we get up the field they put a line on the top of the 28,” Hatrell said. “It’s so hard to get past their defense, but we took advantage of the free shots to get it over the top.”

The conservative defense strategy also hampered King’s scoring ability. Without a full front-field the Irish struggled to set up their offense. On four separate occasions they got the ball in scoring position only to be called offside.

King’s closest opportunity came in the 72nd minute of play when Junior Oscar Vega found the back of the net after receiving a pass. To the dismay of players and coaches the play was called offsides. Hernandez joked he watch footage of the play and congratulate Vega if he was on side.

The second half saw the Irish clamp down on defense. Several clutch defensive plays averted potential goals. Ismal Konate and Jorge Duarte had multiple takeaways near the King goal. In the 64th minutes Duarte made a slide tackle amidst a shot on an open goal that allowed the Irish to clear the box and prompted commendation from the Jesuit bench.

“It’s a fast field, and they know what to do with the ball,” Duarte said. “We’re always trying to win, but I feel good because we did our best, we defended.”

Both teams will face pivotal matchups in the next week as they jockey for playoff position. Jesuit plays its final league game Monday against Chalmette. A win in that game could put them in a position to challenge Brother Martin for district championship.

Grace King (7-7-2, 1-4), with six of 14 active players in their freshman year, is holding on to playoff hopes that rest on winning at least two of its final three district games, the first of which will be a must-win road matchup with Rummel starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

“We need to win that game,” Hernandez said. “I think we have the quality players to win, I think this loss will make us mature a little bit for Saturday. We’re going to see what’s on the line.”